Jonathan Edwards - True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils (Part 2 of 4)

Furthermore, Satan has seen how God has worked his plan of redemption in the world and not as an innocent bystander, but as an active enemy of God's grace. He saw God work in the lives of Adam and Eve, in Noah, Abraham and David. He must have taken a special interest in the life of Jesus Christ, the Savior of men, the Word of God incarnate. How closely did he watch Christ? How carefully did he observe his miracles and listen to his words? This is because Satan has set himself against Christ's work and it is to his torment and anguish that Satan has watched Christ's work unfold successfully. Satan then knows much about God and God's work. He knows heaven firsthand. He knows hell also with personal knowledge as its first resident and has experienced its torments for all these thousands of years. He must have a great knowledge of the Bible. At the least, we can see he knew enough to try tempting our Savior. Furthermore, he has had years of studying of the hearts of men, his battlefield where he fights against our Redeemer. What labors, exertions and cares the devil has used over the centuries as he has deceived men. Only a being with his knowledge and experience of God working and the human heart could so imitate true religion and transform himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11.14 Therefore, we can see that there is no amount of knowledge of God and religion that could prove a person has been saved from their sin. A man may talk about the Bible, God and the Trinity. He may be able to preach a sermon about Jesus Christ and everything he has done. Imagine, somebody might be able to speak about the way of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners, perhaps even enough to show others how to become Christians. All these things might build up the church and enlighten the world, yet it is not a sure proof of the saving grace of God in a person's heart. It also may be seen that for people to merely agree with the Bible is no sure sign of salvation. James 2.19 shows that the demons really, truly believe the truth. Just as they believe there is one God, they agree with all the truth of the Bible. The devil is not a heretic. All the articles of his faith are firmly established in the truth. It must be understood that when the Bible talks about believing that Jesus is the Son of God as a proof of God's grace in the heart, the Bible means not a mere agreement with the truth, but another kind of believing. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, 1 John 5.1. This other kind of believing is called the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, Titus 1.1. There is a spiritual holding to the truth which will be explained later on. So, religious experiences are no proof of salvation. Well, there are objections. Objection number one, people are different from demons. Some people have strong religious experiences and think of them as proof of God's working in their hearts. Often these experiences give people a sense of the importance of the spiritual world and the reality of divine things. However, these too are no sure proof of salvation. Demons and damned human beings have many spiritual experiences which have a great effect on their heart attitudes. They live in the spiritual world and see first hand what it's like. Their sufferings show them the worth of salvation and the worth of a human soul in the most powerful way imaginable. The parable in Luke chapter 16 teaches this clearly as the suffering man asks that Lazarus might be sent to tell his brothers to avoid this place of torment. No doubt, people in hell now have a distinct idea of the vastness of eternity and the shortness of life. They are completely convinced that all the things of this life are unimportant when compared to the experiences of the eternal world. People now in hell have a great sense of the preciousness of time and of the wonderful opportunities people have, who have the privilege of hearing the gospel. They are completely aware of the foolishness of their sin, of neglecting opportunities and ignoring the warnings of God. When sinners find out by personal experience the final result of their sin, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13, 42. So, even the most powerful religious experiences are not a sure sign of God's grace in the heart. Demons and damned people also have a strong sense of God's majesty and power. God's power is most clearly displayed in his execution of his divine vengeance upon his enemies. What if God, choosing to show his wrath and to make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction, Romans 9, 22. Shuddering, the devils await their final punishment under the strongest sense of God's majesty. They feel it now, of course, but in the future it will show to the greatest degree when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels, 2 Thessalonians 2, 7. On that day they will desire to run away, to be hidden from the presence of God. Look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him, Revelation 1, 7. So, everyone will see him in the glory of his father, but obviously not all who see him will be saved. Objection number two, people can have religious feelings that demons cannot. Now, it is possible that some people might object to all this, saying that ungodly men in this world are quite different from demons. They are under different circumstances and are different kinds of beings. An objector might say, those things that are visible and present to demons are invisible and future to men. Besides, people have the disadvantage of having bodies which restrain the soul and keep people from seeing these spiritual things first hand. Therefore, even if demons do have a great knowledge and personal experience of the things of God and have no grace, the conclusion does not apply to me. Or, put another way, if people have these things in this life, it may very well be a sure sign of God's grace in their hearts. In reply, it is agreed that no man in this life has ever had the degree of these things as the demons have them. No person has ever shuddered with the same amount of fear that the demons shudder with. No man in this life can ever have the same kind of knowledge that the devil has. It is clear that the demons and damned men understand the vastness of eternity and the importance of the other world more than any living person, and so they crave salvation all the more. But we can see that men in this world can have experiences of the same kind as those of demons and damned people. They have the same mental outlook, the same opinions and emotions, and the same kind of impressions on the mind and heart. Notice that for the apostle James it is a convincing argument. He claims that if people think believing in one God is proof of God's grace, it is not proof, because demons believe the same. James is not referring to the act of believing only, but also to the emotions and actions that go along with their belief. Shuddering is an example of emotions from the heart. This shows that if people have the same kind of mental outlook and respond from the heart in the same way, it is no sure sign of grace. The Bible does not state how much people in this world may see God's glory and not have God's grace in their hearts. We are not told exactly to what degree God reveals himself to certain people and how much they will respond in their hearts. It is very tempting to say that if a person has a certain amount of religious experience or a certain amount of truth, they must be saved. Perhaps it is even possible for some unsaved people to have greater experiences than some of those who have grace in their hearts. So it is wrong to look at experience or knowledge in terms of amount. Men who have a genuine work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts have experiences and knowledge of a different kind. At this point someone might answer these thoughts by saying, I agree with you, I see that believing in God, seeing his majesty and holiness and knowing that Jesus died for sinners is not proof of grace in my heart. I agree that demons can know these things as well. But I have some things they don't have. I have joy, peace and love. Demons can't have them, so that must show that I am saved. Well yes, it is true that you have something more than a demon can have, but it is nothing better than a demon could have. A person's experience of love, joy, etc. may not be because they have any cause in them different from a demon, but just different circumstances. The causes or origins of their feelings are the same. This is why these experiences are no better than those of demons.